Ready “To Eat Crow”

Scholars believe that the expression is based on a true incident. A British officer captured an American hunter who had just shot a crow. In order to humiliate him, the Englishman ordered the American to eat a small portion of the bird. The officer then returned the gun and the bird to the hunter and told him to be on his way. The American humiliated the officer by turning the gun on him and making him eat the rest of the crow.

This American expression is mostly used in informal contexts to mean ‘to be humiliated’. When you are made to eat crow, you are forced to admit that you are in the wrong, and are compelled to take back the comments you had made. It has the same meaning as ‘to eat humble pie’.

The experts were made to eat crow when the home team lost on the third day.

Ranjit knows that if his plan fails, he will be made to eat crow.